March 2025 Iowa Q&A Roundup

Q          We have a pregnant employee who isn’t qualified for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave because she just started with the company. She hasn’t been coming to work regularly and has been consistently working under 32 hours per week, despite being told she must work her required hours. Is there any legal risk in disciplining this employee, including potentially terminating her?

Issues with your pregnant employee may depend on the size of your company, as well as state law. Under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) regulations, it’s clear you would need to engage in an interactive discussion and determine whether the issues are pregnancy-related and if they can be accommodated. 

Remember, the PWFA indicates that leave is a reasonable accommodation in most instances, and it requires that you amend or remove some essential job functions if needed. This would apply if you had 15 or more employees. State law may also provide for other protections, as some states have separate family or pregnancy leave provisions.